


In Darkest Night

by pjlowry



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Green Lantern - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 23:22:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17069147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pjlowry/pseuds/pjlowry
Summary: Destiny finally comes knocking on John Diggle's door. Much like the amazing people he works for, Diggle is not afraid to step up when it's his turn to be the hero.





	1. Chapter 1

John Diggle had long accepted his role as back up. Despite taking the hood a few times from Oliver, John had always accepted even those times he was just filling and that it was only a matter of time before Mr. Queen resumed his nightly duties. John wasn't hero in the hood, nor the speedster that was bolting around Central City. He was just a regular guy, and John learned a long time ago in Afghanistan that tactical support was just as vital to the success of any mission. John Diggle knew his role and he did it well because not everyone can be the alpha; he was content to be someone's back up. Yet one evening as John sat alone looking out his living room window, his wife and little boy were fast asleep, he wondered if this was the most he would ever do. John was never the kind of man to accept his limitations but the presence of the Flash and other meta-humans was slowly starting to change that. These changes made John feel a lot smaller and weaker than ever before. The presence of Supergirl didn't help out either as John was seriously worried about his safety. Rather than worry about it to much, John went the fridge to eat some leftovers but it he wasn't two steps towards the microwave when the cell phone buzzed in John's pocket. Any call at this time of night only meant one thing; it was time to get back to work. He pressed the button and opened the line.

"What's going on, Felicity?" John asked.

"We got a lead that needs following up on." she replied.

"Alright," John said, as he stated to walk the food back to the fridge, "Tell Oliver that I'm on my..."

Just then glass shattered all around him as a bright light shone into the room. The light shone into his face so brightly that John dropped his phone to cover his eyes. The light was almost like the sun but the biggest difference was it was suddenly all around him, encasing him within a circle. The light was hovering around him, slowly surrounding him like a hand that was reaching in and plucking him out of the living room. And that's exactly what it did as John was sucked out of the living room through the broken and flung outside. To his surprise, John wasn't falling to his death as the green orb was carrying him away. The speed of this orb had begun started to increase, to the point where it was similar to the speed Barry would carry him at. John began to bounce around in the light as if it was a bubble, carrying him off to some far off distant place. Turns out the light only went as far as the Coast.

Just like his arrival, John came crashing through the window and rolled into the floor with a rather harsh thud. When the light finally died down and he was able to see again, it didn't take John very long to realize he was in someone else's house. He slowly got back to his feet and took a few seconds to adjust to his new surroundings. There was a man standing at the other end of the room.

John took two steps back when he spotted him. "Where the hell am I?"

The man on the other end of the room raised his hands to signal that he wasn't a threat. "Don't get all bent out of shape. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I said where am I?" John asked again, his patience thinning.

"Relax man," The guy said, hands still up. "You're in Coast City."

"Coast City?" John repeated as he did the math in his head. "But that's over five hundred miles. How did I cover that much time in what was only minutes?"

"You'll get used to it." The man replied, "It takes time to make the adjustment."

John didn't like the direction this conversation was taking but he needed more intel. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm sorry about that," The man said, "I'm Hal Jordan."

"John Diggle." John replied.

"Diggle?" Hal repeated, "Really?"

"Yeah," John said, looking at him. "You have a problem with that?"

"No, No," Hal said as he walked over and offered a hand to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you John."

John took the man's hand and sternly shook it. "Care to tell me what I'm doing here, Mr. Jordan?"

Hal raised a hand upon hearing the formal lingo. "Please, call me Hal."

"What am I doing here... Hal?" John asked again.

"You're here because you were chosen." Hal answered.

"Chosen for what?" John inquired.

"A higher calling." Hal explained.

"Who died and made you god?" John asked, his arms crossed.

"Oh, this wasn't my choice." Hal said, pointing down at the coffee table. "You were chosen by the ring."

John looked down at the coffee table and saw the ring he was referring to. It looked about the size of a ring someone might get for winning the Superbowl but it was all green. The substance was glowing as well, as if it were radioactive. Diggle had never seen anything like it before.

"How can I be chosen by a ring?" John asked.

"It's not just any ring." Hal said as he reached behind the couch and pulled out the lantern. "It's a conduit to let you access the power of this lantern."

John looked at the green lantern set before him and then back up at Jordan. "Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of practical joke?"

Hal could see how Digs could think it was a gag, so he decided to show him a little proof. He pointed his own ring at the lantern. Another green light came from the lantern and went into Hal's green ring, charging it with more power. Then without warning there was another bright flash of green light. When John's vision came back to him seconds later, Hal's clothing had changed. He was no longer wearing jeans and a shit but was in what looked like a full body suit of black and green. There was also a green mask on his face, which very much resembled the one Oliver work on his face when he was the Green Arrow.

"What do you think?" Hal said, as he did a little twirl. "Pretty snazzy, right?"

"What are you?" John asked, taking another step back.

"I'm Hal Jordan." Hal said again, walking closer. "I'm also the first human being to ever become a member of the Green Lantern Corps."

"The corps?" John repeated.

"Yes." Hal confirmed, "There are thousands of creatures like myself from all over the universe. Every one of us was chosen to defend their home territories from the evils that mean to do harm."

"And now I've been chosen?" John said, remembering being told that earlier.

"Yes, you have." Hal said, again gesturing to the ring. "This ring has picked you to be the second defender of this solar system."

"How did this ring pick me?" John said, looking at it, "And why me?"

"The ring saw something in you." Hal replied, "It looked into everyone's soul and took a good look at what really makes us all tick. Based on that, the ring has chosen you out of everyone to be Earth's second defender."

"What about you?" John asked, "Are you retiring or something?"

"No, no." Hal said, as he laughed at the thought. "I'm not going anywhere. We're expanding due to a heavy work load. I could use the help and the company."

"So what am I supposed to do?" John asked.

"Put the ring on, point it at the lantern and speak the oath." Hal answered.

"What oath?"

"You'll get it." Hal answered with a smile. "The ring will help."

John stood there for what seemed like a long time but was only mere minutes in the room. He looked down at the green ring and all he could think about was Oliver and Barry. Two men who were heroes only for one reason and one reason alone: they never backed down when destiny came for them. They both took to the stage when their name was called. Digs was looking at the ring and he knew what was going on. It was his turn... his name was being called. He also thought about his wife and his little boy, as well as Oliver and Felicity. The entire universe included them as well. He knew what they would do and it suddenly became an easy decision.

John picked the ring up off the table and put it onto his left index finger. He stood there looking at the ring, waiting for something to happen. He then remembered what Hal had told him; point it at the lantern and then speak the oath. John turned towards the lantern and pointed the ring at it. He was just about to say something snarky to Hal when the beam came out of the lantern struck John's ring. Before he knew it, there were words coming out of his mouth as he began to recite the oath as if he had practiced it several hundred times.

"In brightest day... in blackest night ... no evil shall escape my sight ... let those who worship evil's might ... beware my power... Green Lantern's Light!"


	2. Chapter 2

The moment John has finished reciting the oath, there was another flash of green light but this time he wasn't blinded, because he was the source of it. John looked down at himself and he was now wearing the exact same black and green bodysuit that Hal was. Hal Jordan was excited as he started to jump around and punch air as he was celebrating something.

"Yes!" He called out, putting his hand up. "That's what I'm talking about!"

The two men stood there looking at one another, as John's face was still as cold as ice as he didn't appear to look amused.

"Come on, John." Hal said, feeling the excitement in the room deflate. "Don't leave me hanging."

"Seriously,' John said, as his patience continued to thin. "What the hell?"

"You're a member of the corps!" Hal said, smiling. "You and I are the defenders of this entire solar system!"

"Solar System?" John repeated, "You mean Earth, right?"

"Not quite," Hal corrected, "There are a lot of other species that are under our jurisdiction. Many of them are quite nice."

"This sounds very time consuming," John noted, "I do have a wife and a kid that I occasionally have to take care of."

"Hey, we're a team." Hal reminded him, "We are going to split duties here, and I can do most of it until you get the hang of it. Hey, we'll ease you into it. I'm going to be doing all this while you're training anyway."

"Training?" John repeated.

"Yeah, with great power comes great..." Hal paused for a moment, "Great humility?"

"Whatever," John said, "And what is this supposed to do?"

"That's your lantern," Hal informed him. "When you ring runs low on power, you need to recharge it using this."

"Good tip," John said, "Thanks for letting me know."

Before Hal could say more, both of their rings started to glow. John looked back at Hal and had a rather annoyed look on his face.

"What the hell is going on?" John asked.

"We're being called back to base." Hal answered, "We're about to travel to a planet called Oa. It looks like the guardians of the universe would like to meet the newest member from Earth."

"How are we going to get there?" John asked.

"Hold your arm up," Hal answered, as he held the arm up he had the ring on. "One of our new powers is that we can fly."

"We can?" John said, as he couldn't believe it.

Yet before another thing could be said, his arm shot up in the air as the ring was taking over. Both Hal and John launched into the air and flew through the open sun roof and into the sky. They were moving so fast that John and Hal had left Earth's atmosphere in second and were in deep space, and that's when things got really crazy. Once they were clear of the Earth, their rings fired ahead of them and opened what looked like a wormhole that both of them flew into. It took less than a minute to emerge and other side was a new planet, one that had certain spots on it that was glowing green.

"Welcome to Oa," Hal said, smiling as they flew closer to the new planet.

"This is insane!" John said as he was amazed by what he was looking at.

There was a point as they got closer to the planet, that John lost control and started to fall instead of fly. And just before he came close to the ground, Hal used his ring to form that orb of light again as he helped bring John down softly. Once on the ground there was another being standing there. He was not human, but he wore the same colors the two of them had.

"Tomar!" Hal called out as he landed.

"It is good to see you again Hal Jordan," Tomar-Re said, looking over at John. "And this must be our new recruit."

"Recruit would be a tad inaccurate," John said, as he stood back up. "That would imply that I volunteered for this job."

"At least his ring translator is working," Tomar-Re replied.

"Sorry about that man," Hal replied, "I didn't volunteer either. The ring chooses you and we're stuck with it."

"The ring saw something in you, human." Tomar-Re said, looking back at him. "We are unsure of what that is, but the ring is never wrong."

"This human has a name," John said defiantly.

"My apologies," Tomar-Re said, giving a slight bow. "I am Tomar-Re, protector of sector 2183, home to..."

"Eight thousand and twelve galaxies," John finished for him, "How the hell did I know that?"

"The ring," Hal added, "It has a whole boatload of data we can recall and use while being badass intergalactic peace keepers."

"And what is your name?" Tomar-Re asked John.

John turned to face the talking fish creature. "Well my name is John..."

Without warning Hal had flew over and stepped in between the two and interrupted John while he was trying to introduce himself.

"Stewart!" Hal called out, "His name is John Stewart!"

"Excellent!" Tomar-Re replied, as he took Hal's word about the topic without hesitation. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, John Stewart."

"Tomar," Hal said as he finally released John, "I need a moment to speak to John Stewart for a moment before we begin his training, just to get him ready for what is about to come, especially Kilowog."

"Very well," Tomar-Re said, "I will check in with Kilowog to see when he's available. I shall return shortly."

As Tomar-Re flew away, John pushed Hal away as he was visibly upset over what had just occurred.

"What the hell, Hal?" he called out. "Why did you do that?"

"I'm very sorry," Hal said, "But your name is a very offensive world. For several species, include Kilowog's, Diggle means something very different. It's a crude word they use to describe certain reproductive organs. I should have warned you but this all has been moving rather fast."

"Great," John said looking at O, "So now my name is John Stewart? Is that the best you come up with?"

"My bad," Hal apologized, "It was just the first thing that popped into my head, and I also happen to be a huge fan of the Daily Show."

"I'm more of a Trevor Noah fan myself," John admitted.

"Who?" Hal asked.

"Okay, you have been out here too long." John concluded. "No wonder you need my help."

"I know I'm asking a lot, but work with me here." Hal insisted, "The ring doesn't make mistakes. You are here for a specific reason. I don't think you realize what a privilege this is. I know it will take some getting used to, and you can trust me on that. It took me some time and soul searching to get into this too. We are like guardians of the galaxy, cops who protect all forms of life in our sector."

"Are there eight thousand galaxies in our sector too?" John asked.

"Not that many," Hal said, trying to seem modest. "If I had to ballpark it, I'd say there's probably around..."

"Twenty five hundred," John replied for him, "And change."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Hal said, taking a deep breath. "Try to relax John, I've been covering all twenty five hundred and change by myself for about several years now. The two of us should have no problem doing it together."

"Together?" John repeated, "We're like partners?"

"I guess we could say that," Hal replied, "But I have seniority."

"Seniority of what exactly?" John asked, stepping up to Hal and standing toe to toe with him. "Being a loud mouthed buffoon?"

There was a loud roar of laughter that came echoing out right after John had tossed that barb at Hal. John looked up to see that Tomar-Re had returned and he was accompanied by a rather larger looking alien that was laughing at them.

"He is funny," the larger alien called out, "I like him."

"Kilowog," Hal said, looking up at the massive alien. "Nice to see you too."

"Hello Kilowog," John said as he walked over, "My name is John... Stewart."

"John Stewart," Kilowog said, looking down at him. "Your posture suggests you a man of authority. What kind of work did you do on your planet?"

"I was in the military," John answered, "Master Sergeant in the US Marines. After that I did some private work."

"That's cool," Hal said, taking it all in. "So you did some contractor work after discharge?"

"Not exactly," John said, pausing to choose his words carefully. "I've been fighting crime as a vigilante for the past five years, and also did secret missions for my wife who is the head of a secret government agency."

"Well, that's interesting." Hal said, "A secret government agency?"

"You ever heard of Argus?" John asked.

"Nope," Hal answered.

"Like I said," John replied, "Secret."

"A vigilante, huh?" Hal repeated as he thought about it. "Do you guys have a dental plan?"

"We beat up criminals," John reminded him, "Of course we have a dental plan."

"But you seem like a stand up guy to me," Hal continued, "It's not like you've affiliated with someone dangerous, like the Green Arrow."

John stood there with his arms crossed, looking at Hal with a glare one would only expect from a wife that was very angry. Rather than respond to the comment, John chose to take a deep breath and say nothing. Hal's face was one of shock.

"You know the Green Arrow?" Hal called out.

"Last year I was the Green Arrow." John informed him. "I took over for him while he was preoccupied with personal matters."

"Wow," Hal said, as now he was the one that couldn't believe what he was hearing. "At least you like green."


End file.
